


next stop: romance station

by hoeunki



Series: plum blossom and the orchid [4]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Romance, Strangers to Lovers, Trains, some markhyuck because i could
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 10:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16448033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoeunki/pseuds/hoeunki
Summary: clumsy renjun keeps embarrassing himself in front of the cute new guy who takes the train to school with him and learns that maybe commuting isn't half as bad as he makes it out to be.





	next stop: romance station

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is dedicated to all the people who take long commutes to work/school

The morning commute is hell.

Unlike Jaemin, whose house is within walking distance to school and Donghyuck, who cycles a couple blocks to get there, Renjun isn't quite as lucky. Every morning, he has to brave the sea of people that flood the stations, squeeze between office workers and university students, constantly muttering ‘excuse me’ and ‘sorry’ every time his backpack hits someone.

It’s the first semester of their senior year, and Renjun is already dreading the thought of all the all-nighters he’s going to end up pulling over group projects and essays. Jaemin claims that coffee is the answer to everything, but then again Jaemin’s coffee looks like a mix of gasoline and squid ink so Renjun’s learned to take everything he says with a grain of salt.

The commuters today are thankfully, not very aggressive. Renjun’s careful not to get his feet trodden on (his cousin bought him new shoes in the summer) as he shuffles along with the crowd. He gets onto the train with minimal hassle, immediately securing himself a spot in the corner by the opposite door.

As the doors shut and the train begins to move, Renjun leans back and watches as the outside scenery whizzes before him. One of the only saving graces about a long train ride is the beautiful cityscape views. In the afternoons, when it's not peak hour, Renjun sometimes takes his sketchbook out and draws glimpses of the city life. High-rise buildings, pedestrians, children crossing the road. Renjun sketches them all.

The train's moved about two stops when the doors open and more people flood in. Renjun holds his bag tight against his stomach and flattens himself against the wall. He happens to glance across the train car, where a tall guy catches his attention. He has to duck slightly in order to get into the train, and Renjun doesn't get a good look at his face because of the lady in front of him wearing obnoxiously high heels. The train resumes its journey, and a ray of morning light hits Renjun’s eyes at the moment the guy turns around.

Renjun hisses in reflex, but he isn't sure if he's being blinded by the sun or by how handsome the guy is.

Large, curious eyes. Big ears. Messy brown hair. Renjun would’ve mistaken him for a model if not for the fact that he was wearing the same uniform as him.

Interesting, Renjun thinks. Their cohort is average sized, and Renjun doesn't recall seeing this guy at all. He _definitely_ doesn't seem like someone he'd miss. Not with that face.

The guy suddenly looks right at him, and Renjun turns his head swiftly in an attempt to look casual. He’s too afraid to turn his head back, so he stares out of the window for the rest of the ride.

Approximately forty-five minutes later, the train arrives at Renjun's station. The crowd has thinned out, but Renjun loses sight of the handsome stranger because he alights first and Renjun has to slide between two elderly women before he can escape.

He's making his way towards the escalator when he spots the guy standing in the middle of the station. He glances around, visibly confused, and the way he studies the signs is all too familiar to Renjun.

Renjun hesitates. He's not normally one to do the approaching, and Jaemin and Donghyuck are probably waiting for him so that they can claim their seats in homeroom.

But the boy looks so terribly _lost_. He glances at the people passing by and opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates and backs away every time. Renjun sees his middle school self for a second, a scrawny thing who was on the verge of tears until a boy with golden skin and another one with a dazzling smile approached him and brought him to school.

Renjun sighs deeply, but walks over to the other boy anyway.

 _He's so tall,_ Renjun realizes as he nears. Renjun's chin barely reaches his shoulder, and he has to tilt his head back a little.

He taps the guy on the shoulder. “Do you need help?”

Mr. Model Man whirls around and for a second, Renjun finds himself stunned at how good looking he is up close.

The guy blinks at him. It takes a few moments for him to notice the uniform but when he does, his eyes light up and he points animatedly between the two of them.

“We…same school!” He says in broken Korean.

Renjun nods, scanning the guys features. His name tag reads ‘Lucas Wong,’ so Renjun assumes that he's probably Chinese.

“Do you want to want to come with me?” he asks, in Mandarin this time.

Lucas smiles brightly and _oh_ , he's really cute.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

Renjun returns what he hopes is a friendly smile (he always feels a bit constipated when doing things like this) and leads the way. He stays a few paces in front of Lucas for good measure, not wanting to fall into the awkward loop of small talk. They tap out of the station and Renjun guides him towards the right exit, glancing back every few moments to check that Lucas is still there.

This continues for a few blocks, Renjun leading the way while Lucas trails behind like an obedient puppy.

Once they’re across the street from the main gates of the school, Renjun spots his friends loitering at the entrance. He calls out to them and is about to take a step forward when he trips on an uneven part of the sidewalk.

But before he can slam his face against the pavement, a large hand grabs his arm to steady him.

“Whoa there,” Lucas says, smoothing out the crease on Renjun’s sleeve. Renjun feels himself blush like an idiot because of course he had to trip right in front of his friends and the new cute guy.

“I-I think I see my friends over there so um, seeyouaroundbye!” his words come out in a mess of Korean and Mandarin but he doesn’t care, sprinting across the street and leaving a very confused Lucas behind.

Renjun grabs Jaemin and pulls him into the school building quickly, hoping to escape Lucas as fast as possible. Donghyuck and his boyfriend Mark follow with matching amused smiles.

“Who’s the cutie you arrived with?” Jaemin asks, smiling cheekily as they walk down the hallway. Renjun groans. They’re never going to shut up about this.

Donghyuck nudges Renjun with his elbow, mirth dancing in his eyes.

“I haven’t eaten breakfast yet but he’s a whole snack,” he giggles, and laughs harder when Mark pulls him close, seagull eyebrows bunched in a jealous frown. “I’m kidding, baby!”

“I only have eyes for you,” Donghyuck whispers, placing a wet kiss against Mark’s cheek. Jaemin gags. Ever since they got together over summer, the two lovebirds haven’t stopped being gross in public. They were like those annoying couples on the train who would hug each other for the entire duration of the ride and whisper flirtatiously into each other’s ears. Renjun hated it.

“I think he’s new. He doesn’t even speak Korean well,” Renjun informs them. “He understood me when I spoke in Chinese, though.”

Donghyuck and Jaemin exchange a glance as they enter Donghyuck and Renjun’s homeroom. Renjun immediately secures his place at the back corner of the room, next to the window like the anime protagonist his 8 year old self wished to be.

“Oh, he speaks Chinese? You should get to know him better then,” Mark innocently comments. His words seem to start something, as Jaemin and Donghyuck begin giggling conspiratorially.

“Your height difference is pretty cute, Injunnie.” Jaemin’s eyes have a dangerous sparkle in them.

Donghyuck laughs. “And the way he caught you when you tripped? That was some K-drama shit right there!”

Jaemin springs to his feet, pretending to trip dramatically. “Help!” he cries.

Donghyuck pulls Jaemin, just like Lucas had done to Renjun, but he also hooks an arm around Jaemin’s waist and pulls him close. Their noses brush and Donghyuck cradles Jaemin’s cheek.

“Are you okay, beautiful?” he asks in a deep voice. Mark claps at the whole routine and Renjun has half a mind to throw a stapler at them.

Jaemin snickers before swooning, throwing his head back and placing a hand against his forehead. “Thank you, my prince! I shall honor you with a kiss as a reward for your heroic deed.”

Renjun kicks Jaemin’s shin as he puckers his lips and his friend yelps in pain, collapsing to the floor with Donghyuck. They roll around in fits of laughter and end up clutching their stomachs as a result of laughing too hard.

“I need new friends,” he mutters, sulking in his seat and trying not to look so affected.

(The thought of Lucas calling him ‘beautiful’ keeps him distracted for the entire first period, but he doesn't admit this to anyone.)

 

 

Renjun doesn’t see Lucas as he leaves for school (not that he was actively searching for him in the first place, because that would be absurd). He’s a little disappointed but doesn’t take time to dwell on it. Renjun likes the afternoon rides home because they’re slightly less crowded and he has a higher chance of securing a seat. It’s a little lonely, but Renjun’s used to it.

 

 

The next morning comes with another packed train and a slight migraine. His cousin Sicheng says he’s too young to have migraines as often as he does, but Renjun can’t really do anything about it. Unable to get a spot by the window and doors, Renjun sandwiches himself between a relatively overweight man and a rich lady’s massive purse. He’s busy scrolling through his social media and doesn’t really pay much attention to the people coming and going beside him.

About halfway through the journey, the train suddenly lurches to a stop and Renjun stumbles, having been caught off-guard. His hands are full so he can’t really grab anything, and he ends up smacking into a firm chest and stepping on the person’s foot as well.

“I’m so sorry!” he blubbers, and looks up to see Lucas Wong staring down at him.

Of course. Out of all the passengers in this damned train, it _had_ to be him.

Lucas’ hair is messier today (perhaps he woke up late, Renjun muses) but he’s handsome nonetheless. Lucas smiles at him again and Renjun, heaven forbid, feels his heart stutter.

“Renjun, right?” he asks.

 _Yes, you cute idiot, it’s on my name tag_ , Renjun thinks.

“That’s me,” he answers. They lapse into awkward silence afterwards, the conversation gap being filled by the faint melody of a trashy pop song playing from someone’s earphones. Renjun tries to avoid Lucas’ gaze, but more people crowd inside the train and he finds himself pressed against Lucas’ (very toned) body with nowhere to escape.  

He smells good, in that middle-class cologne mixed with a hint of sweat kind of way. Renjun should be disgusted, but he strangely isn’t.

“I met your pink haired friend,” Lucas suddenly says in that deep voice of his.

Renjun blinks. “Jaemin?” He has a moment of internal panic, because who knows what kind of embarrassing information Jaemin, the chronic oversharer he is, could’ve told Lucas already.

“Yeah! He’s in the same homeroom as me.”

_Oh no._

Lucas seems to pick up on his distress because he snickers. “Don’t worry, he didn’t say anything bad about you.”

The train speeds past a block of buildings and the morning light shines in through the window. Lucas shields Renjun’s eyes from it by holding up a folder next to his ear, as if it were the most natural thing to do. Because that’s what people who’ve met for a grand total of two times do for each other, obviously.

Renjun adjusts his glasses. “And what exactly did Jaemin say about me then?”

Lucas thinks. “Nothing much. He said you were into space and stuff like that. He also said you sing a little?” It comes out as more of a question.

Renjun nods, relieved that Jaemin hadn’t said anything more. “Yeah, I was thinking of majoring in astrophysics in university. I do sing, but I don’t think I’m that good.”

“That’s what people with good voices say when they’re trying to be humble.” Lucas has the audacity to smirk a bit, and Renjun can’t deny that he looks quite handsome doing so.

“How about you? What are your hobbies?” he finds himself asking Lucas. If they’re going to be train buddies, he might as well get to know him better.

Lucas lowers the folder and fiddles with its edge. “Oh! I like playing games. I work out a lot too, I guess.”

A gym rat, Renjun notes. Lucas has nice arms that show through the uniform sleeves. He could probably bench press Renjun if he wanted to.

“I mean, it’s pretty obvious. You have a nice body,” he tells Lucas, and immediately cringes at how creepy he sounds.

Lucas barks out a laugh at the unexpected compliment. “Thanks,” he says, flexing his right arm. “I do it for cute guys like you.”

It’s clearly a joke, but Renjun blushes anyway. He’s never been good at dealing with flattery.

The rest of the train ride is relatively comfortable. Lucas has a lot to talk about and Renjun listens with interest, learning a bunch of things about the new student. Like how he’s actually half Thai, and how he hates mosquitoes. Renjun isn’t at all surprised when Lucas tells him he’s modeled once or twice in the past. He also learns that Lucas is learning to play the guitar, which is interesting.

“Maybe you and I could duet sometime,” Renjun half-jokes.

Lucas’ eyes light up. “That would be so fun!”

The train doors open and Renjun only notices now that it’s their stop. He didn’t realise that time had gone by so fast while they were talking, but he supposes he wasn’t really paying much attention to anything else but the cute guy in front of him.

Grabbing Lucas by the arm, he pulls them both out of the mass of bodies and onto the train platform. They walk together this time, footsteps falling in sync with each other instead of Renjun leading the way like he did yesterday.

When they get to school, Lucas accompanies Renjun to his friends, who brighten up at the sight of the other boy. After some brief introductions, Lucas and Mark launch into a conversation about some soccer game. Jaemin makes kissy faces at Renjun and Donghyuck wiggles his eyebrows suggestively while they aren’t looking, and Renjun punches them both in the shoulder.

“Fuck off,” he mouths at his demonic friends.

 

 

Much to Renjun’s horror, Mark invites Lucas to sit with them at lunch. Tagging along is Jeno, who’s in the same homeroom as Lucas and also happens to be Jaemin’s crush of three years. Jaemin gags on his orange juice as Jeno slides into the seat across him with his pretty crescent eyes and nice arms. Renjun manages to maintain his composure for the entire duration of lunch, and is grateful that his friends don’t make any comments about his (not) crush on the handsome boy from Hong Kong.

 

 

There are plenty of mornings where Renjun doesn’t end up on the same train as Lucas. It’s also entirely possible that they enter into different train carriages and get swept up in different currents of commuters when they alight. Even though they’ve barely interacted, Renjun can’t help but miss him a little bit.

It’s a bit sad, Renjun thinks on a particular Tuesday morning, as he leans against a pole with one earphone plugged in and the other one dangling lazily on the side. He invests his attention in a mindless phone game that Donghyuck introduced to him a few days ago and can hardly bring himself to care when his other earphone bud slips out of his ear. He pauses his game and brings the wires to rest over his right wrist, swinging with the motions of the train.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, the train jerks and Renjun’s wrist is suddenly pulled on. He nearly drops his phone and slowly becomes cognizant of the fact that his earphones have somehow gotten tangled with the netting on someone’s backpack. The person doesn’t seem to realise it, as they aren’t facing Renjun. They have a cap on and airpods stuck in their ears, and Renjun hesitates to tap them on the shoulder.

He spends a few more minutes agonising over whether to bother the person, and eventually resorts to just picking at his earphones carefully. Hopefully he can get this done before the person even realises it and life will be good.

The position is a bit uncomfortable for Renjun; his eyes are practically level with the man’s butt and he prays that they don’t fart or he might actually faint on the spot. He adjusts the earphone jack with utmost care, successfully removing it from the netting. Now all he has to do is--

The train lurches again and the man steps to the right, bringing Renjun along. Renjun grabs onto the nearest thing, which happens to be the guy’s belt, and they bump into a man in a polo shirt and khaki shorts.

“What the heck?” A familiar voice says, and Renjun instantly identifies it.

Lucas peers down at him, confused, and Renjun wants to crawl into a hole and die. Never mind the disgruntled polo shirt man.

“My uh, earphones. They got stuck in your bag.”

(He realises now that he had been staring at Lucas’ ass for a good five minutes.)

“Oh.” Lucas bites back a smile and shuffles his bag around to give Renjun easier access to it. “Here you go.”

Renjun thanks him and hastily untangles his earphones. Once he successfully frees the cursed thing from Lucas’ bag, he stuffs it into his back pocket to avoid any further incidents. Lucas looks on, a hint of amusement gracing his features.

“How long were you down there?” he asks.

Renjun feels himself burning from shame. “Like, five minutes at most.”

“You could’ve just poked me to get my attention,” he tells Renjun. As a matter of fact, Renjun _had_ considered that option. But Renjun is Renjun and also prefers not to inconvenience people on the trains in the morning and would rather endure back pains from bending down instead because that’s just the type of person he is.

“You gotta tell me though,” Lucas smirks, “Do the uniform pants make my butt look big?”

Renjun lets out a very unattractive snort. “Not at all.”

 _You have a very nice ass,_ is what he meant to say.

They haven’t seen each other around school lately. Lucas eats lunch with Jeno and their jock friends on the other side of the cafeteria and they don’t share any classes at all. Renjun’s only managed to catch glimpses of him in the hallway, or bits of one of his football games from his Aliens Conspiracy Club window.

Renjun tucks a stray strand of hair behind his ear and works up the courage to initiate the conversation. “How have you been?”

“I think I’m holding up okay.”

“That’s good to hear.”

The train wobbles and their hands brush against each other. Renjun swallows the fluttering feeling of Lucas’ skin on his, and isn’t at all prepared for the next words that come out of Lucas’ mouth.

“I missed you.”

Renjun’s eyes widen and for a moment he questions if this is all a weird, lucid dream.

“Morning train commutes aren't very fun when there's no one to talk to.”

“Only the morning commutes?”

“I like the afternoon rides,” Lucas admits. “They're very…”

“Peaceful,” Renjun and Lucas say simultaneously. After a beat of silence, they both burst into giggles.

Lucas has pretty teeth and they show when he laughs. It looks like something out of a commercial, except there’s nothing fake about it. Instead of the usual flutter in his stomach, Renjun feels a warmth spreading in his chest.

When he stops laughing, Lucas leans onto his arm as he clutches the handle. He bites his lip and hesitates before asking, “Do you want me to wait for you after school today?”

Renjun smiles shyly, his heart thrumming with anticipation. “Sure.”

Lucas brightens, the morning sunlight enveloping his face and making it appear as if he were actually glowing.

Renjun wonders if he looks half as decent in Lucas’ eyes.

 

 

True to his word, Lucas waits by the main gate of the school after everyone is dismissed. He stands by a wall and scrolls through his phone, but from afar it almost looks like he’s posing for a photoshoot. Renjun waves goodbye to his classmates (he thanks his lucky stars that Jaemin and Donghyuck aren’t around to tease him about this) and jogs up to Lucas.

“Hey,” he breathes.

Lucas grins, and offers his arm to Renjun. “Shall we?”

Renjun swats at the muscled arm. There’s hardly an ounce of excess fat on them, so they don’t jiggle at all. Life is unfair.

Compared to the morning sun, the afternoon sun is much hotter. Renjun feels the heat on his exposed skin as they stroll along the canal, talking about their school day. It’s funny, Renjun thinks to himself, how easily his stress is relieved when he talks to Lucas.

On that train journey home, Renjun shows Lucas his sketchbook. The taller boy holds it delicately with his large hands, running careful fingers along the worn edges. He oohs and ahhs as he flips through each drawing, pointing out the ones that he especially likes. Lucas has a nice side profile, Renjun observes. He stares at the slope of Lucas’ nose and the curve of his lips for an almost inappropriately extended amount of time. Perhaps, one day, Lucas would let Renjun draw a portrait of him.

Every once in a while, Lucas asks a question about one of his drawings, like ‘where did you get your inspiration from?’ or ‘how long did this take you?’ He’s so invested in learning about Renjun’s artworks that he almost misses his station.

“I’ll see you tomorrow maybe?” Lucas’ tone carries a hint of hope that makes Renjun’s heart flip.

He nods, unable to get himself to respond coherently. When Lucas waves goodbye and hops off the train, Renjun slumps in his seat and holds his sketchbook to his chest, sighing as he looks up at the train lights.

_Whipped._

 

 

Renjun doesn’t see Lucas the next day. Or the day after that, in fact. He sleeps through his alarm on Wednesday, and Lucas gets sick on Thursday (information that is helpfully supplied by Jaemin). It dawns on Renjun that he doesn't have Lucas’ number, but then again why would Lucas even bother giving it to someone he only saw on the train, right?

So Renjun can't text Lucas and ask him if he's on the way to the train or anything. It would be nice if they coordinated their schedules to meet each up with each other every morning, but that also seems like something boyfriends would do. And Renjun and Lucas are nowhere near that level.

 _Yet_.

Renjun firmly believes that he's 56 percent more delusional in the morning.

 

 

He meets Lucas again in the afternoon. A bunch of girls huddle together and giggle about something outside of his literature class and when class is dismissed (his teacher decided to keep them in for an extra fifteen minutes), Renjun is shocked to find Lucas Wong leaning by the window and waving at him.

He strides past the girls and walks straight up to Renjun, who can't seem to get his mouth to close.

“You look surprised to see me,” he says, as if Renjun should've been expecting the most handsome boy to wait outside his classroom for him. The girls grumble and disperse, leaving Renjun and Lucas alone in the hallway.

“H-how did you even know what class I had just now?”

Lucas grins. “Jaemin.”

“I'm going to kill that little shit,” Renjun hisses.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Lucas gestures for them to start walking. People are quick to escape school on Friday afternoons, and the campus is eerily empty as they head towards the entrance. They pass by Mark and Donghyuck kissing against a pillar, and Donghyuck's eyes expand to the size of pizza pies as he spots Renjun walking beside Lucas. He shoots him a thumbs up and Renjun flips him off.

Renjun turns back to Lucas. “Are you feeling better?”

Lucas raises an eyebrow. “Inquiring about my whereabouts yesterday, I see.”

A flush creeps up Renjun's neck. “Jaemin just mentioned it in passing, that's all.”

Lucas presses his lips together, but Renjun can tell that he's pleased by the look in his warm eyes.

“Well, I'm feeling great. Thanks for asking.”

Renjun kicks at the concrete. Lucas could’ve easily gone home and left Renjun to take the train but he stayed back. Just for him. _He’d be a great boyfriend,_ his mind supplies, and Renjun swallows thickly. Their knuckles almost brush as they walk, and Renjun suppresses the urge to reach out and intertwine their fingers together.

On the train, Lucas and Renjun manage to sit down beside each other for the first time. Golden rays stream in through the glass, warm but not entirely unpleasant. Young children talk animatedly about games and comics and in the corner, a mother rocks her baby to sleep. Renjun yawns and feels his eyes drooping. He had to wake up at 4am to finish an essay and barely got 3 hours of sleep last night.

Lucas glances down at Renjun. “Take a nap, if you’re so tired.” He pats his own shoulder, gesturing for Renjun to rest his head against it.

“O-okay,” he mumbles sleepily, not having enough energy to reject his offer. Renjun rubs at his eyes and tentatively leans on Lucas. His shoulder is so comfortable and Renjun, with his sleep-deprived brain, can’t help but nuzzle closer. His nose grazes Lucas’ cheek and he hears the other boy inhale.

“Thank you,” Renjun whispers.

He blacks out the moment he closes his eyes.

 

 

The sun is almost gone over the horizon when Renjun wakes up. The next stop is his stop, and he absentmindedly rubs at the corner of his mouth in case he drooled. Like a cat, Renjun stretches his arms over his head and hears the satisfying cracks of his back as he twists his torso. There’s something refreshing about a nap on the train.

Renjun turns to his left and yelps when he finds Lucas staring back at him with an amused smile. “Sleep well, princess?”

Renjun gapes. He completely forgot that he was using Lucas as his pillow. “You were supposed to get off like, five stations ago!”

“You were sleeping so peacefully so I didn’t want to disturb you,” Lucas explains, and Renjun feels it pointless to argue that he could’ve just woken him up. The train pulls up at Renjun’s station and they step off together.

“Is your house far? I can walk you home if you want.”

Renjun’s good at reading people. He knows that guys with purely platonic feelings don’t wait after school and lend their shoulders for you to sleep on and they most certainly do not offer to walk you home while the sun sets. Renjun’s heart is hammering away but he can’t find any good reason to say no to Lucas so he nods dumbly.

It’s like a dream, walking along the quiet streets of his neighborhood with Lucas beside him. The boy from Hong Kong looks around in awe, absorbing the new scenery with curious eyes. They come to a stop as they reach Renjun’s doorstep. A flock of birds flutter overhead, and Renjun can hear the TV in the living room. His cousin is probably watching some drama again.

Lucas looks handsome in the dim light of the streetlamp, and the coral sky frames him like a photograph.

Renjun picks at a piece of lint on his pants. “You don’t always need to go out of your way to do nice things for me.”

“But I want to.” Lucas doesn’t even miss a beat.

“But… why?”

Now it’s Lucas’ turn to blush. Pink colors his cheeks and he runs a hand through his hair. “I hoped the answer would be obvious by now.”

Renjun discreetly pinches himself to make sure he’s not dreaming. He breathes in through his nostrils and smiles gently at Lucas, who’s looks so incredibly shy and soft in his grey hoodie.

“Maybe you should give me your number so that we can make this a daily thing?” Renjun proposes. He has to suppress a grin as Lucas fumbles for his phone and gives it to him. Renjun types in his digits and saves it under a new contact with a heart emoji next to his name.

When he hands it back to Lucas, the brunette checks his screen. A look of shock appears on his face but before he can say anything, Renjun plants a kiss on his cheek and disappears into his house.

 

 

Sicheng eyes him warily as they eat dinner. “What’s gotten into you?”

Renjun can’t keep the smile off his face as he pops a piece of lotus root into his mouth.

“Nothing. I’m perfectly fine.”

 

 

Renjun ends up forgetting to study for his physics test so when he wakes up at 2:43am to pee, he sees a string of stressed messages from Jaemin. They end up video-calling (Jaemin’s eyebags are something out of a horror movie) and it’s not long before SIcheng’s knocking on Renjun’s door and calling him for breakfast.

“I’ll just study on the train, Nana. Good luck!”

He inhales his mushroom omelette and showers in five minutes, not even bothering to iron his clothes because there’s no time to waste.

Renjun bites down on a highlighter as he walks, flipping through his textbook as he gets on the train. He keeps his eyes fixated on his notes and tries to memorize the rules about electromagnetic forces as the train speeds off.

At one point of the journey, Renjun reaches blindly for a handle above him. He’s startled when his fingers come into contact with someone else’s, and he almost drops his textbook on his foot.

“I’m so sor-”

“You have very poor awareness of your surroundings, did you know that?”

Lucas beams down at him, unbrushed brown hair falling across his eyes. Renjun remembers the kiss from last night and his cheeks redden.

“Hi.”

Lucas grabs Renjun’s hand and locks their fingers together so that they’re both holding onto the handle. As expected, Renjun’s hand is tiny in comparison to Lucas’, but they slot together so naturally.

“Studying for something?” Lucas asks, peering down at the textbook.

Renjun frowns, because there’s no way he’s going to get any cramming done if Lucas is holding onto his hand like this.

“I was, but I feel like I’m going to be horribly distracted for the rest of the ride.”

The train jolts again and Lucas is quick to grab Renjun’s waist with his free hand. Renjun’s physics textbook bumps into Lucas’ chest as the tall boy pulls him closer.

“Maybe you need a good luck kiss,” Lucas advises. The corners of his mouth turn upwards in a playful smile.

Renjun knows they’re being hardcore judged by the rest of the passengers on the train, but he doesn’t care. Not when the boy of his dreams is offering to kiss him.

He stands on his tiptoes and his nose grazes the soft skin of Lucas’ cheek. “We’re really going to be one of those PDA couples on the train?”

Lucas chuckles. “If it means I get to kiss you whenever I want, then I sure hope so,” he answers, before closing the gap between their mouths.

(Renjun doesn’t get any more studying done after that.)

**Author's Note:**

> me: has so much nonsense to do for uni  
> also me: writes another 5k for this ship because I can 
> 
> all yukren/luren enthusiasts are welcome to say hi on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/takadactyl) or leave a comment below and yell with me 
> 
> thanks for reading <3


End file.
